Star Wars special effects genius Neal Scanlan suggests Rogue One:A Star Wars Story will be a different take on the universe we know and love.

“What’s amazing and exciting about ‘Rogue One’, is that Gareth Edwards is a young, dynamic guy who’s brave enough to throw out the rule book. It’s very respectful, but he’s stamped his own personality on it.”

Scanlan himself also worked on the droids and creatures in The Force Awakens as well as Rogue One.

He was speaking at a launch event for Gillette’s new Star Wars-branded Mach 3 razors. The accompanying advert was shot on the movie’s set with extras and production design that appears in the film, giving us another look at droids, vehicles and costumes glimpsed in trailers.

Scanlan was one of the crew who helped bring to life BB-8, the ball-shaped droid of “The Force Awakens”. From the moment J.J. Abrams first sketched the round robot on a napkin, Scanlan knew the cute droid would be something special. And now the effects whiz predicts “Rogue One” droid K-2SO will have a similar effect on audiences.

He describes the new droid K-2SO as “full of attitude” and very different from previous humanoid droid C-3PO.

The tall K-2SO is played by “Firefly” actor Alan Tudyk, whose performance was motion-captured while he wore stilt-like prosthetic legs. The sophisticated prosthetics let Tudyk jump around even though he was standing a foot above the ground, making K-2SO “the first droid with athletic prowess”.

K-2SO in Rogue One:A Star Wars Story

The motion-captured Star Wars droids are an example of real and computer effects combined. Still, Scanlan who previously worked for Jim Henson’s Creature Shop and did animatronics for movies including “Babe” and “Labyrinth”, professes his fondness for practical effects over CGI.